On Schwarzenegger and Tire Planters

I love adages. My ideal non-sacred book would be a travel book of aphorisms.

Pablo Picasso said, “The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.” Are not politicians the more adept at this? In today’s world we demand that our politicians be above scandal, whilst we expect our artists to be disreputable bohemians. Perhaps we should rise up and insist on the opposite. What if we expected our politicians to be consistently licentious–more in keeping with their craft–but required our artists to be chaste? Let the artist raise our eyes to beauty as well as open our eyes to the dissonance that surrounds us. And what of politicians? Meh.

Love your wife; Spoil your children. And then, if you’re lucky enough to have them, as I have been, spoil your grandchildren after that. And all the while make your art in a place that you love. — Merigold, Mississippi potter Lee McCarty

As we describe our environments, we begin to savor them. –Julia Cameron

I’d much rather see a pristine swept yard with a humble tire planter than a big swanky house festooned with a fake wreath. —Julia Reed, author of Queen of the Turtle Derby

Yes! I love that magazine. It is called Garden & Gun, and the fact that you would pick up that same magazine and read the same quote somehow encourages me. I was reading about Shelby Foote and my favorite cookbook author, Martha Hall Foose. You need to get a copy of each of her cookbooks, you will love them: Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, and A Southerly Course.